Bill Tyquin (1919–1999) was an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. An Australia national representative lock forward, he played in 6 Test matches between 1948 and 1949, captaining on 3 occasions. Tyquin played his club football in both Brisbane and Sydney, gaining selection for the Queensland and New South Wales teams. He was a member of the St George's 1941 NSWRFL Premiership-winning team, and ultimately was named in the

Souths Logan Magpies The Souths Logan Magpies, more commonly referred to by their former names Southern Suburbs Magpies, or South Brisbane Magpies, or often simply referred to as Souths, are a rugby league football club based in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Au ...

team of the century.

Club career

Tyquin was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

on 15 January 1919. He went to school there and played for the city's the Souths and the Brothers clubs before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Stationed in Sydney with the AIF during the war he played the 1941 season with

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and played in St George's inaugural Grand Final win in 1941. In that game he was sent off by the referee after a clash with Easts rival Jack Arnold. After the war he returned to Souths Brisbane playing five seasons from 1945 to 1950 and from where he enjoyed representative success.

Playing style

Whiticker's reference acclaims Bill as the premier lock forward of the Australian game in the five-year period immediately after WWII. He asserts that Tyquin was a great cover defender who had one of the biggest punt kicks in the game at that time. St_George_DRLFC_Premiers_1941

Representative career

He first represented for

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1945 and then regularly over the next 5 years making 8 appearances against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

as well as captaining Queensland in 1948 against a touring New Zealand side. He made his Test debut against New Zealand in the first Test of the 1948 series in Sydney and played in both Tests. He was subsequently named as vice-captain to

Col Maxwell Colin Maxwell (1917–2001) was an Australian international rugby league footballer whose career ran from the 1930s to the 1950s. He was a centre for the Australian national team in one Test in 1948 in which he captained the side. Club career ...

for the 1949

Kangaroo Tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

of England and France an appointment overshadowed by the controversial non-selection of Len Smith. On that 1949 tour Tyquin played in 4 Tests and 10 minor tour matches. He enjoyed the honour of captaining Australia in two Tests against France and then in the third

dead rubber Dead rubber is a term used in sporting parlance to describe a match in a series where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the ...

Test against Great Britain in Bradford.

War service

Tyquin enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

in 1941. He was a Sergeant in the 2/5 Armoured Regiment. He was discharged in 1946.Tyquin at WWII Roll

Post playing

After football Tyquin worked in the wholesale liquor industry. He devoted many years to administration of the Souths Brisbane Leagues club and was its president during the 1970s. He spent many years as president of the Queensland Irish Association. As well as contributing to other areas of the Brisbane community.

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Haddan, Steve (2007) ''The Finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals'', Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane
Queensland representatives at qrl.com.au

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyquin, Bill 1919 births 1999 deaths Australia national rugby league team captains Australia national rugby league team players Australian military personnel of World War II Australian rugby league players New South Wales rugby league team players Past Brothers players Queensland rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Brisbane Souths Logan Magpies players St. George Dragons players